Tainted spinach and naughty text messages on 'Gilmore Girls'

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Shows like Law & Order and CSI rip plots from the headlines all the time, but beyond its pell-mell string of pop culture references, Gilmore Girls is rarely discussed in terms of timeliness.

What a pleasant surprise, then, to find that Tuesday (Oct. 10) night’s Gilmore Girls was littered with jokes that got extra punch from current events.

The episode inadvertently commented on the recent spinach/E.coli crisis (which was particularly bad if you’re very old, very young, have a weakened immune system or desperately needed to rescue Sweet Pea from Bluto). Note WASP-y patrician Emily Gilmore’s menu order for her upcoming juvenile high team.

"We definitely shouldn’t serve the spinach quiche," she warns Sookie. "Some of the girls have braces and their mothers would never forgive me if they spent the evening with hideous green smiles. Perhaps a shrimp salad or a more traditional cream cheese and cucumber would be more appropriate."

Yes, Emily had aesthetic and orthodontic concerns, but part of me couldn’t help but feel that her true issue involved the fact that there’s poo in the spinach.

Exactly one scene later, though, a conversation between Rory and Paris echoed the ongoing Mark Foley scandal, as the two gals discuss the difficulties of long term relationships. Paris asks Rory how the sex is with AWOL boyfriend Logan. Rory, still demure years after losing her virginity to a married man, seems confused and blushed at the idea of phone sex. Paris goes to the next technological level.

Paris: OK. What about texting?

Rory: No, no thank you.

Paris: Why not? You say stuff when you’re together, don’t you?

Rory: Yeah. I guess. Sometimes.

Paris: So… Text it. Texting’s great. And you can do it while you’re doing other things.

Indeed. Like voting on major legislation and condemning President Clinton for lapses in moral character!

Rory, incidentally, ended up looking for raunchy Henry Miller quotes to text Logan. He responds in kind, encouraging her to be naughty and spontaneous.